A 'can do no wrong' perception around Charles Leclerc is "damaging" Ferrari, former Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve claims.
The Monegasque arrived at the Scuderia to much acclaim and with high expectations that he would challenge the establishment at Maranello, in particular, the status of Sebastian Vettel.
And for the most part that has been the case with Leclerc being heralded after his performances, but also, the Canadian believes, given a lot more slack compared to his teammate.
“If you listen to any fan or go on the forums, even the qualifying accident [in Baku], Leclerc doesn’t get criticised,” Villeneuve told Motorsport.com.
“If it had been Vettel, he would have been destroyed by the media and everyone, for the same mistake.
“Ultimately I think that’s having a negative effect for the team," he suggested. "Seb’s spin in Bahrain came because of that, then the team orders in China, it all comes from there.
“And Leclerc’s accident in qualifying also, wanting to prove that he’s the number one of the team. Ultimately that’s damaging the whole team."
Villeneuve also thinks it has likely led to Ferrari's poor start to 2019, with just three podiums to their name while rivals Mercedes have scored four straight 1-2 finishes.
“I hope it re-balances out because they should have been the one that’s being chased by Mercedes," he added. "It’s not had a good positive effect on the team, that’s all.”
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Sensing 2019 would be the year that Ferrari had the best chance to beat Mercedes, the 48-year-old believes the team should have kept Vettel happy by retaining Kimi Raikkonen.
“They already had Leclerc, so they could have given him a contract for 2020 and 2021 and kept Kimi for just one year because this was the year to fight," he explained.
“That’s not saying Leclerc is not good, he’s amazing, he’s super quick, he deserves to be there, that’s not the issue. But the way Ferrari operates, the way Seb is, he needs this kind of love around him, and it was just not the right move.
“Look what they did at Mercedes, and look how strong it is this year. If they had put [Esteban] Ocon there, Lewis [Hamilton] would have reacted the same way – he would have wanted to eat him alive straight away, and destroy him," Villeneuve stated
“But there’s respect with [Valtteri] Bottas, and even if they both have two victories, Lewis doesn’t seem to be upset about it. That wasn’t the case with Nico [Rosberg] for example, and that really allows the team to perform at a level that it almost hasn’t performed at before.”
